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https://www.notesonlife.org/YDN/archive/2020-03-04.php

Easy believism

By Eli Kittim 🎓

Before the reward there must be labor.

You plant before you harvest. You sow in

tears before you reap joy. ~Ralph Ransom

Christians typically debate over the nature of the godhead (e.g. modalism vs. the trinity), the best English Bible translation (KJV only vs. Critical edition), the rapture (pre vs post-tribulation), and many other different doctrines that are peripheral to soteriology. However, the topic that we’re about to discuss is a salvation-issue of the utmost importance.

Easy believism holds that only belief in Jesus is necessary for salvation. Nothing else is required in order to be saved. Proponents of this view teach that no commitment to Christian discipleship or spiritual formation is required. In other words, no efforts whatsoever are necessary on the part of the believer in order to be saved. It is certainly very appealing, particularly to those who are lazy and who dislike efforts and commitments. Plus it allows you to indulge your carnal desires to your heart’s content!

There are only two categories in the spiritual life: the “saved” and the “unsaved”; the “saint” and the “sinner.” By that I mean the Christian and the nonChristian. That is to say, the person who has been born-again in a Holy Spirit experience versus the person who has not yet been regenerated. The topic of “easy believism” only concerns those people who have not yet experienced a rebirth. It refers to those people who are interested in salvation and want to know what they have to do to attain it. By contrast, those who have been reborn have received the Holy Spirit and are already saved!

Just because Jesus is said to die for our sins doesn’t mean that we should continue to practice sin, whether it be pedophilia, adultery, murder, or the like. The idea of making an effort to align our behavior with God’s will doesn’t mean that we are saving ourselves or that we reject Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. It is true that only Jesus can regenerate us. It is a gift of God. But those who are not yet regenerated need to purify themselves in order to receive God’s gift of salvation. Just like the farmer ploughs the field, prepares the soil for planting, and then plants the seeds and waits for the harvest, we, too, must prepare the soil of our heart in order to receive the harvest of God’s gift. It takes much time and effort. Not that rebirth itself has anything to do with us, but the preparation towards it definitely does. Once we receive it, God then does all the work inside us through his Holy Spirit!

Scriptural verses should be read in **canonical context,** not in isolation. The notion that we must do certain things (beyond just believing) is quite obvious throughout scripture. For example, Jesus says I know about your “deeds and your labor and perseverance” (Rev. 2.2), but you need to “repent, and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and I will remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent” (Rev. 2.5)! Notice that Jesus doesn’t say “continue to sin because you will be saved as long as you believe in my death, burial, and resurrection.” No! Jesus doesn’t say “sit back, relax, and do nothing because I will take care of all the details.” Rather, he says:

To the one who overcomes, I will grant to

eat from the tree of life, which is in the

Paradise of God (Rev. 2.7).

This is a theme that runs throughout the Bible. We have to struggle against sin so as to overcome. According to the Oxford Languages Dictionary, to overcome means to “defeat (an opponent); prevail.” We do not defeat anyone or anything if we don’t exert any effort at all. In Revelation 3.3, Christ commands the believers to stay alert and vigilant and to repent:

remember what you have received and

heard; and keep it, and repent. Then if you

are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you

will not know at what hour I will come to

you.

Proponents of easy believism claim that *repentance* and *avoidance of sin* are practices based on “works” and are, therefore, not required. Yet 1 John 1.6 declares:

If we say that we have fellowship with Him

and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do

not practice the truth.

Similarly, 1 John 3.4 says:

Everyone who practices sin also practices

lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.

In 1 Timothy 6.11-12, Paul addressed the believers and issued a categorical imperative to actively flee from sin. He pronounced a solemn exhortation:

flee from these things, you man of God,

and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith,

love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight

the good fight of faith; take hold of the

eternal life to which you were called, and for

which you made the good confession in the

presence of many witnesses.

Paul is urging us to actively flee from sin and to practice righteousness. Just like Jesus, Paul is not telling us to do nothing except believe. On the contrary, he’s urging us to fervently fight against evil thoughts, against sinful emotions & desires, and against temptations to disobey God. If no efforts were required, then why would Paul say that we must fight and struggle against sin, against falsehood, and against everything that opposes the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10.5)? In Ephesians 6.10-14, Paul writes:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the

strength of His might. Put on the full armor

of God, so that you will be able to stand firm

against the schemes of the devil. For our

struggle is not against flesh and blood, but

against the rulers, against the powers,

against the world forces of this darkness,

against the spiritual forces of wickedness in

the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the

full armor of God, so that you will be able to

resist on the evil day, and having done

everything, to stand firm. Stand firm

therefore, having belted your waist with

truth, and having put on the breastplate of

righteousness.

In 1 Corinthians 6.18, Paul’s caveat to “Flee sexual immorality” explicitly contradicts the doctrine of easy believism. So does John 8.11 where Jesus says “go, and do not sin again." Same with Ephesians 4.26: “Be angry but do not sin.” Are these verses teaching that only belief is necessary? In Romans 6.13, Paul issues a command: “do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness.” These proof-texts, therefore, expose the horrific errors of easy believism!

Paul never says “it doesn’t matter if you keep sinning as long as you believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Paul never says “don’t worry if you’re having an adulterous relationship with someone’s wife, or if you keep robbing people’s homes, or if you keep molesting little children, as long as you believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ.” That’s like saying that the head of the mafia may have already killed many people——and may kill many more in the foreseeable future——but he’s actually *saved* because he believes that Jesus is the Christ. How crazy is that? In other words, Free Grace theology holds that “carnal Christians” and “unbelieving Christians” who even denounce their faith will, nevertheless, be saved. Obviously, there’s something seriously flawed with the doctrine of easy believism!

This is a perversion of the gospel. In fact, Romans 8.5-8 says that “those who live according to the flesh” are not believers. Salvation is a gift. No one is denying that. But the goal is to take up our cross daily and die to ourselves so as to become more Christ-like (Mt. 16.24). Without preparation and discipleship we are not heading towards Christ. Therefore, easy believism is a false teaching that deceives and misleads people by offering them a fake salvation that does not save! In fact, Zane Hodges and the Grace Evangelical Society have gone so far as to say that it’s not even a requirement (for salvation) to believe that Jesus is God, or that he died for sin, or that he was bodily resurrected at some point in human history!

Easy believism is a perversion of the Bible (see Mt. 7.14; Acts 2.1-4, 15; Rom. 6.3; 8.9; 2 Cor. 5.13; Eph. 4.22-24; Gal. 2.20; Rev. 3.20)! Bottom line, unless you’ve had an *existential experience* of rebirth (Jn 3.3), you’re not saved. If you think salvation is so easy that all you have to do is simply name it and claim it, then you’re only having an imaginary relationship with Jesus. Paul demonstrates that there’s far more to salvation than easy believism. He exclaims:

Work out your salvation with fear and

trembling (Phil. 2.12).

While many may not totally believe or embrace all parts of the Bible, there are many points on which many will agree. For example murder certainly is not good and neither is stealing, lying, and generally not following “The Golden Rule.” All these are clear to grasp and easy to understand, but as Mark Twain infamously said, it is parts like today’s Bible verse that are a real stumbling block for a lot of people.

Here’s the thing about “God’s Word”...it is NOT an easy path through life, but a Difficult One. To follow what God says requires discipline, dedication, and determination to look past the temptations and distractions of this world and aim for the high goal of your calling to live a peaceable, productive, and prudent life.

As Twain points out, some of these injunctions to living — while straightforward to read and comprehend — are seemingly impossible to follow. For example in today’s verse on forgiveness, this is unbearable for many people due to their hurt, anger, or the injustice they received from someone, but here is how this is possible and what Twain did not understand.

As long as you try do this in your human strength it will always be either extremely difficult or nearly impossible, but once you receive the Holy Spirit of God in your life and totally yield to His direction, the Bible promises us that “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

Are you struggling with unforgiveness? As today’s scripture says, if you do not forgive you will not be forgiven. That is easy to understand but impossible to follow unless you let go of your pride, yield to the Holy Spirit and start simply by making a conscious, mental decision to forgive. (Don’t worry about emotionally “feeling” forgiving..that will come in time...)

Friend, if you 'GO WITH GOD', All Things then Are Indeed POSSIBLE. Unlike Twain’s dilemma, it is not a matter of understanding, but of faith, trust and obedience to the one that literally wrote the book. Then and only then will it be possible to have victory over all the difficult parts that you DO UNDERSTAND.

God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You

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